HELP THE HALLOWEEN PARTY!
At least that is what youngsters in 1970's Dublin
used to say when going door-to-door on all hallows
eve. Of course now the mantra is 'Trick or Treat!'
which sounds like a bit of a threat to me so....
We are launching a campaign. Dont say 'trick or
treat' and instead lets try to revive the Irish
tradition of saying 'Help the Halloween Party' -
if we dont make a stand now the phrase may be lost
forever and another piece of old Ireland with it.
Over to you!

The full extent of the problems faced by the Irish
economy are still emerging. Ireland's budget
deficit of 14.4% of GDP was the highest in the EU
in 2009 and is likely to be equally disastrous
in the coming years. There is debate among
economists and politicians at the moment regarding
the best way forward. The government is intent on
slashing public expenditure and will almost
certainly significantly raise personal income
tax. If this process is overdone then there is a
real risk of stifling whatever economic recovery
might be possible as consumers face up to
reduced incomes.
The huge cost of the Irish public and civil
service is also being eyed for change. Despite the
'Croke Park Agreement' which precludes any
redundancies in the public service there have
been calls by economists for widespread lay-offs
in one of the best paid public services in the
world. State wages are nearly 50% ahead of wages
in the private sector.

The December budget is expected to see cuts and
tax increases of between 5 and 7 billion euro
imposed by the government in a widescale and
sweeping attempt to reduce costs and increase
state income. The aim is to reduce the deficit
to 3% of GDP by the year 2014, a target which most
observers admit is unlikely to be achieved.

Part of the reason for the huge deficit is the
estimated 1.5 billion euro in interest required
to pay for the banks bailout. This estimate is
the annual cost for the next 15 years. A huge
sum of what is essentially wasted money.

Despite claims that the current government
policies could lead to a 'lost decade' similar
to that experienced by Japan in the 1990's the
ruling coalition is optimistically predicting a
return to economic growth as early as next year.

PROBLEM OF 'GHOST ESTATES' HIGHLIGHTED

The collapse in the Irish housing market had a
number of well-documented effects including the
bank bailout which nearly capsized the entire
economy. On a micro level however the sudden stop
in construction activity has had real and
sometimes devastating human effects. Some
apartment and house buyers who bought at the
height of the boom can now only look on in despair
as the remaining homes, sometimes literally next
door, are sold for less than half of what they
paid. Negative equity is a trap that it will take
years for these people to emerge from. Paying
400,000 euro for a house that is now worth 170,000
euro is a very depressing vista for a young person
who took out a 30-year mortgage.
But at least they own a decent home. Some housing
estates have been abandoned by their building
contractor as the economic collapse enveloped
them. Bankruptcy and redundancies were the order
of the day as the building sites closed and the
workers left. For those occupiers who had taken
up residence in the half-finished housing estates
and apartment blocks the future is in doubt. The
chances of the building works being completed are
remote. Vacant houses and apartments are a magnet
for thieves, vandals, drug abusers and squatters.
The only chance these people have is to band
together to try to instil a sense of community,
establish neighbourhood watch projects, while
also lobbying the local councils and politicians
to try to get some of the more vital building work
completed.

It is estimated that there are some 100,000
housing units now lying idle in Ireland, unsold
or un-sellable. Some 2700 housing estates
countrywide are uncompleted. Counties Sligo,
Roscommon, Leitrim and Longford were among those
Counties that were most tax-incentivised during
the building boom. It was considered that these
areas were the most economically disadvantaged
so it is now a bitter irony that it is these same
areas that have the most 'ghost estates' and are
thus suffering most.

The Government is currently pondering the matter
but is seems inevitable that whole swathes of
housing, completed and part-built, will be
bulldozed and the originally green field sites
restored to nature.

IRISH PRISON SYSTEM CREAKING

The crisis in Irish prisons is very much on the
agenda with severe recent overcrowding in Mountjoy
prison leading to riots and lockdowns. Plans are
well advanced for a large new prison facility in
Dublin County but it will be several years before
any prisoners can be transferred to 'Thornton
Hall'. An increase in unemployment inevitably
leads to an increase in crime so it is no surprise
that the prison population has increased in size
by 10.5% in the last year.
New legislation is being prepared by the government
which will oblige the judiciary to consider
community service and non-custodial sentences for
petty crimes. Currently the imposition of these
non-prison sentences is solely at the discretion
of the ruling judge.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER PRAISES FIRST IRISH GOVERNOR

On the occasion of the unveiling of a bronze bust
by the American ambassador to Ireland, Dan Rooney,
the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger,
joined in the tributes to the first foreign-born
Governor of that state.
John Gately Downey (1827-1894) had emigrated to
America in 1841 at the age of only 14 years. Less
than 20 years later he became the first immigrant
to hold the high office of Governor, a feat
matched only by Schwarzenegger himself in 2003.
Downey had engaged in gold prospecting before
becoming successful in the drugstore business. He
is remembered for vetoing the 'bulkhead bill'
which would have privatised much of San Francisco's
now famous waterfront. He later helped to found the
University of Southern California.

IRISH ASTRONOMERS MAKE SIGNIFICANT DISCOVERIES

Hot on the heels of the discovery of a supernova
by Dublin based Dave Grennan came the news that
Kildare-based Dave McDonald had found an eclipsing
star. Both of these amateur star-gazers made the
amazing discoveries using equipment located in
their back gardens.

RUSSIAN SETBACK FOR IRISH SOCCER TEAM

The long journey to the European football
championships to be held in Poland and
The Ukraine in 2012 will be signposted by
a big defeat in Dublin at the hands of Russia.

After a good start to the qualifying competition
the Irish team faltered badly at home losing 3-2.
The scoreline does not reflect the dominance that
the Russian team exerted over their strangely
muted Irish counterparts. Despite a valiant
fightback it would have been a footballing travesty
had the visitors not taken all 3 points from the
game.
The defeat was tempered only slightly by the news
that rivals Slovakia had been defeated in Armenia,
where Ireland had secured a victory only a few
week earlier. Ireland followed up the defeat with
a 1-1 draw in Bratislava, perhaps missing an
opportunity to really put the Slovaks on the
back-foot in the qualifying table. Plenty of
twists and turns to come.

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The Celts celebrated Halloween as Samhain, 'All
Hallowtide' - the 'Feast of the Dead', when the
dead revisited the mortal world. The celebration
marked the end of Summer and the start of the
Winter months.

During the eighth century the Catholic Church
designated the first day of November as 'All
Saints Day' ('All Hallows') - a day of
commemoration for those Saints that did not have
a specific day of remembrance. The night before
was known as 'All Hallows Eve' which, over time,
became known as Halloween.

Here are the most notable Irish Halloween
Traditions:

Colcannon for Dinner: Boiled Potato, Curly Kale
(a cabbage) and raw Onions are provided as the
traditional Irish Halloween dinner. Clean coins
are wrapped in baking paper and placed in the
potato for children to find and keep.
The Barnbrack Cake: The traditional Halloween
cake in Ireland is the barnbrack which is a
fruit bread. Each member of the family gets a
slice. Great interest is taken in the outcome as
there is a piece of rag, a coin and a ring in
each cake. If you get the rag then your financial
future is doubtful. If you get the coin then you
can look forward to a prosperous year. Getting
the ring is a sure sign of impending romance
or continued happiness.

The Ivy Leaf: Each member of the family places a
perfect ivy leaf into a cup of water and it is
then left undisturbed overnight. If, in the
morning, a leaf is still perfect and has not
developed any spots then the person who placed the
leaf in the cup can be sure of 12 months health
until the following Halloween. If not.....

The Pumpkin: Carving Pumpkins dates back to the
eighteenth century and to an Irish blacksmith
named Jack who colluded with the Devil and was
denied entry to Heaven. He was condemned to
wander the earth but asked the Devil for some
light. He was given a burning coal ember which he
placed inside a turnip that he had gouged out.

Thus, the tradition of Jack O'Lanterns was born
- the bearer being the wandering blacksmith - a
damned soul. Villagers in Ireland hoped that the
lantern in their window would keep the wanderer
away. When the Irish emigrated in their millions
to America there was not a great supply of turnips
so pumpkins were used instead.

Halloween Costumes: On Halloween night children
would dress up in scary costumes and go house to
house. 'Help the Halloween Party' and 'Trick or
Treat' were the cries to be heard at each door.
This tradition of wearing costumes also dates back
to Celtic times. On the special night when the
living and the dead were at their closest the
Celtic Druids would dress up in elaborate costumes
to disguise themselves as spirits and devils in
case they encountered other devils and spirits
during the night. By disguising they hoped that
they would be able to avoid being carried away at
the end of the night. This explains why witches,
goblins and ghosts remain the most popular
choices for the costumes.
Snap Apple: After the visits to the neighbours the
Halloween games begin, the most popular of which
is Snap Apple. An apple is suspended from a string
and children are blindfolded. The first child to
get a decent bite of the apple gets to keep their
prize. The same game can be played by placing
apples in a basin of water and trying to get a
grip on the apple without too much mess!

The Bonfire: The Halloween bonfire is a tradition
to encourage dreams of who your future husband or
wife is going to be. The idea was to drop a
cutting of your hair into the burning embers and
then dream of you future loved one. Halloween was
one of the Celt 'fire' celebrations.
Blind Date: Blindfolded local girls would go out
into the fields and pull up the first cabbage they
could find. If their cabbage had a substantial
amount of earth attached to the roots then their
future loved one would have money. Eating the
cabbage would reveal the nature of their future
husband - bitter or sweet!

Another way of finding your future spouse is to
peel an apple in one go. If done successfully the
single apple peel could be dropped on the floor
to reveal the initials of the future-intended.

Anti-Fairy Measures: Fairies and goblins try to
collect as many souls as they can at Halloween but
if they met a person who threw the dust from under
their feet at the Fairy then they would be obliged
to release any souls that they held captive.

Holy water was sometimes anointed on farm animals
to keep them safe during the night. If the animals
were showing signs of ill health on All Hallows
Eve then they would be spat on to try to ward off
any evil spirits.

It was a frosty night in January in the year of
Our Lord nineteen hundred and nine. Bill was the
church caretaker in this half parish. The priest
only rode his horse out here on Sunday to read
Mass or for funerals. This was one such day as
this evening the remains of old Granny Smith had
come to the chapel. Coffins were left in the back
of the chapel overnight. He had locked the church
earlier at ten and had only come out to look at
the cows before going to bed. It was just after
midnight. Was that a noise he heard in the church?
It couldn't possibly be as he had barred the
double doors on the inside before exiting through
the sacristy door, which he locked with the key.
Why he still had it in his pocket. Just the same,
it was only twenty yards to the double doors, he
would have a look. Halfway there he felt a bit
eerie so he called out.

'Is there anyone there?' The only reply he got
was a creaking door. As he moved into the shadow
he could see that one of the double doors was
half open. What the hell? He stopped in his
tracks. He peeped in the door, he could not see,
he pushed in the door a bit farther. He looked
over to where the coffin was left on trestles.
Good God! The old woman was sitting up in the
coffin. He could see her by the moonlight that
came through the stained glass windows. He
could feel his hair stand on end. She had her
head on the end of the coffin with her two arms
hanging over the sides. The lid of the coffin
was standing up against a pillar.

'Did that lid move?' He thought it did.
'Don't be daft he told himself, coffin lids
don't move on their own accord. There, it moved
again, it had feet, little bare feet.' He looked
back to the coffin. It had legs, two bare legs.
Had the old woman put her legs down through the
bottom of the coffin? The legs had a white shroud
dangling to the knees. Bill was rooted to the
spot. Sheer terror froze him. Then a white cowl
appeared over the edge of the coffin. He felt
its eyes peering.
A great unearthly shriek emanated from the cowl.
It sounded like r-u-n-f-o-r y-o-u-r l-i-f-e. So
screaming, the white ghost emerged from behind
the coffin and headed straight for Bill at the
open door. A black ghost who came from behind
the lid chased him. Bill collapsed into the back
seat just in time to avoid been trampled on by
the screaming ghosts. They went through the
opening like bats out of hell. Had he really
collapsed? Or did they run through him? He just
didn't know any more. He was glad that the
shrieks were receding into the distance. He
hoped he had seen the last of them. His hair
was still on end. It had probably turned white.

A few people who lived near the road thought
they heard screaming, but they could not be
sure. Some thought they dreamt it. Not so
John and Stephen who were coming home with a
good few pints on them. They saw the ghosts
all right. They passed them on the road at
great speed. Their shrieks had subsided by
then. They disappeared after crossing the dragon
stream, near old Granny Smith's house. (John
spent the rest of his life, which wasn't very
long, mumbling in a drunken haze. Stephen on the
other hand took the pledge the very next day and
never drank again for the remaining thirty years
of his life. Indeed, it was rumoured that he
confided to his good wife that he saw the devil
chasing his soul across the dragon stream and
that he promised God that if he gave him another
chance, he would never drink again.)

Meanwhile back at the church, Bill sat in a
trauma trance, silently invoking God, His
Blessed Mother and every saint in creation.
Eventually, his heart slipped back out of his
mouth and began to beat normally, his hair lay
down again and the sweat all over his body began
to cool. Some of his reason returned. The small
stipend he received as church caretaker made the
difference between him being a poor small farmer
and a very poor small farmer. His 'gossans'
were serving Mass and doing well at school. He
might even make a priest out of one of them yet.
That would give him real stature in the parish.
Fear or no fear, he had to keep his job and that
meant keeping the church locked and corpses in
their coffins. He got up, his knees were shaking,
his hands were shaking, yet he closed the double
oak doors, the handles of which were u-shaped
made to line up with similar u-shapes on the
frames when the doors were closed. Into those
slots he dropped the six by three polished oak
plank that was made for the purpose. This made
the whole thing rock solid. Hopefully it would
keep out the ghosts if they returned.

He then went to the coffin, put back the arm on
the right, walked round, put back the other arm,
then down to the foot where he caught the two
ankles and pulled the old woman back into the
coffin. Her head bounced off the bottom with a
thud, no lining in the coffins of the poor, not
even a fist full of sawdust. He then rearranged
her habit just for decency. He peered behind the
lid, just in case, then picked it up and put it
on the coffin. The wooden dowels for holding it
on were under the trestles; he put them in
position, pulled off one boot to tap them home.
He replaced the boot, now for the walk up the
full length of the church to the sacristy.

He could not look both sides at once and ghosts
might emerge from the shadows of the seats at
any time. The red sanctuary lamp looked down,
its dull light mingling with the dim moonlight
making the whole scene eerie, unreal, ghostly
even.

He could hear his own breathing, his heart was
pounding again, the sound of his own footsteps
unnerved him, but finally he reached the sacristy.
He rushed in, unlocked the outer door, dashed out
and locked the door behind him. He had done his
duty. He would keep his job. Nobody would ever
know what happened here.

Having broken the ice on the barrel under the
eve, he washed death from his hands, wiped them
in his trousers and tiptoed back into his house.
Everybody was still asleep. He had not been
missed. As he crept into bed beside his sleeping
wife his courage and reason returned. Why had the
ghosts left the dowels under the trestles? Had
they intended to replace the lid? If so, why?
Why were they so small? Perhaps they were not
ghosts at all. The Granny had only been rescued
from the poor house because of the new
five-shilling old age pension. By the time they
had brought her home ten miles on the ass's cart
she had the rattles in her throat. She died the
next day. One five-shilling pension was all they
got. It wouldn't half pay for the drink at the
wake. And another thing! He had heard that the
she was laid out on a linen sheet on the kitchen
table. No one belonging to them ever owned a
linen sheet, no, nor even a flour bag sheet.
That's where unrestrained young love led to,
poverty and want. Where would they have got the
sheet? Where! Only on loan from their cousin who
worked in the big house? It would have to be
returned even if through drink or pride the
undertaker was allowed to put it in the coffin
with the old woman. If two grandchildren hid in
the church wrapped in granny's black shawl they
could remove the sheet when everyone was in bed.
If they were disturbed in their weird work,
might they not have wrapped themselves in the
sheet and the shawl and run screaming from the
scene? Had he solved the puzzle? He would
confront the children after the funeral tomorrow
and confirm his suspicions. Until he had talked
to the children he would not mention any of this
to a soul. He had a long wait. He would never
be sure.

The children weren't at the funeral, sick,
someone said. He supposed they got cold in the
church, he would see them at Mass on Sunday.
They didn't come, still sick? He never saw them
again. Consumption took them with the blooming
of the daffodils, only twelve hours apart. They
were buried together beside the Granny.

'Maybe it was ghosts that night after all. Maybe
it was the children. Maybe, just maybe they
should have let the dead rest? Maybe just maybe
we should do the same?'

Michael Collins was born in Cork in 1890. He
attended school and then worked as a local
journalist (writing sports reviews) before
moving to London at the age of 15 to work for
the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA).

In London Collins associated with the Irish
community and became keenly aware of the history
of Irish nationalism. He joined the Irish
Republican Brotherhood in 1909. By 1915 he had
risen through the ranks of the London branch of
the IRB and was aware of the increasing tension in
Dublin between the various factions of
republicanism. He returned home and helped in the
recruitment that was necessary before any uprising
could be successful. He also joined the Gaelic
League, an organisation that stressed the use of
the Irish language as another means of
nationalistic expression.

Despite the extreme unlikelihood of any success
the Easter Rising went ahead and resulted in the
destruction of a large part of Dublin city centre
as well as the execution of the seven leaders of
the revolt. This was the mistake by the British
that turned the tide in favour of the insurgents
for the first time. Public sympathy towards the
executed men increased so much that Collins,
DeValera and the remaining leaders could see that
nationalism was about to peak in the country.

Collins was imprisoned in Frongoch internment camp
where his credentials as a leader were further
recognised by his captured comrades. After his
release Collins quickly rose to a high position
in both Sinn Fein and the IRB and started to
organise a guerrilla war against the British.
He even found time to famously break DeValera out
of prison in England. The war against the British
continued on through 1920 and 1921 despite the
introduction of the 'Black and Tans' - mercenary
soldiers introduced into Ireland by Churchill.

The British Prime Minister, Lloyd George,
eventually compromised and offered a partition of
Ireland and a 'Free State'. Collins and Arthur
Griffith had been sent to London as the Irish
delegation because DeValera knew that the ultimate
aim - independence - was not attainable.

The resultant civil war that broke out between the
pro-treaty and anti-treaty factions was bloody
indeed with Collins defeating his former
comrades-in-arms only to eventually have his own
life taken in an ambush in Cork in 1922.